“This object is a ‘Magi-Engineering Brainwave Explorer.’”
The theater on the coast.
I showed all the adventurers a cylindrical machine and a helmet. It was the brainwave explorer I had once used myself.
“This explorer contains a trial I created. A magic circle will be activated using your mana and blood as materials, and you will explore within this place. Succeed, and you pass. Fail, and you do not.”
This brainwave explorer was already an object of considerable perfection, but now that I had bestowed 「Midas’s Hand」 upon it, it lacked nothing in creating an entirely new world of the unconscious.
“It’s simple.”
Thus, the test of ‘mental strength’ was simple.
The participants would entrust their consciousness to this machine.
If the examinee gave inner consent through mana and signed my magic circle with blood, a phenomenon similar to Kala’s 「Authority」 would occur.
To be precise, it was an imitation of Kala’s Authority, but, well, in any case.
“There are currently 433 adventurers gathered here. If you wish to attempt it, you may do so at any time. Of course, you may also give up midway.”
I looked around at the adventurers. There were quite a few well-known adventurer groups—Red Garnet, Blue Hair, Green Marlin, and so on.
For reference, if the name of an adventurer group included a ‘color,’ it meant they were no ordinary people.
“……I’m allergic to needles, y’hear?!”
At that moment, a man dressed like a warrior bellowed and waved his hand.
“Khehehe. What am I supposed to do?”
Kala’s younger brother, Jackal. Grinning, he quickly drew the attention of those around him.
“Blood’s a bit much, ain’t it~”
A strong scent of blood wafted from his mouth, and his peculiar air was far more savage than before.
It seemed his sheer martial force had grown more than twice as strong……
“Then leave.”
Ganesha suddenly cut in. Jackal chuckled and rose to his feet. He slung a long blade over his shoulder.
“Don’t wanna leave, though?”
“……If you don’t.”
Ganesha glared at Jackal. Jackal did not avoid her gaze either.
“Do you want to die?”
For an instant, Jackal’s smile stiffened.
Flap, flap—Ganesha’s twin-tailed hair also lashed about sharply.
“……Fine by me. Wanna have a go? I was feelin’ stiff anyway.”
A heavy current sank over the room. Fragments of mana flickered like a downpour.
An ‘aura,’ proof of an expert, spread throughout the theater, and the adventurers were watching with rather fascinated eyes when—
“Jackal.”
I called Jackal’s name. The man turned to look at me. I gestured to the seats with my eyes.
“Sit.”
“Haha. Don’t think I can? This crazy woman picked the fight first—”
“Is Kala dead?”
“…….”
Jackal’s movements stopped. The corners of my mouth twisted naturally.
Kala and Jackal always moved as one body. Yet now there was only Jackal. What that situation implied was quite clear.
I added one more sentence.
“Or is she dying?”
Strength clenched into the hand holding the demonic blade.
“I will not say it three times.”
Watching his face, I smiled.
“Sit.”
“…….”
Then, a ‘death variable’ spread from Jackal.
A red current loosened like mist. It slowly, writhingly approached my feet like a leech, but—
“If you want to save your sister.”
It stopped at that instant.
Jackal’s half-lidded eyes trembled.
“……Hey. Professor.”
Jackal spoke. His tone wavered with thick impulse and killing intent.
“You know?”
A short and simple question.
“Jackal.”
I shook my head. I stared steadily at that insolent warrior.
“Know your place.”
“……My place.”
“I do understand, to some extent, that you have lived like an ignorant brute until now.”
Tap—I struck the podium with my cane. A small reverberation stirred the wind and spread like a wave. Jackal’s long hair fluttered.
“But at least learn to distinguish people.”
“…….”
He shut his mouth for a moment. He merely glared at me with hollow pupils.
At length, he spoke.
“Professor.”
He sat down in the chair.
“If you don’t know, you die.”
The face that muttered those words was bizarre, like some kind of ghost. The entirety of his eye sockets had turned pitch-black, and he was glaring as though he would kill me.
I said,
“I will correct your manner of speaking from now on. Before I tear that mouth of yours apart.”
“…….”
“Adventurers who will participate in the trial, submit your blood and wait.”
* * *
……Recently, the atmosphere within the Imperial Knights had been dark and murderous.
Of course, externally, the Empire and the imperial authority were growing stronger by the day. The subjects of the Empire could feel that progress on their own skin.
However, it was because the very value of ‘meritocracy’ within the Imperial Knights was shaking precariously.
—Merit? What a load of bullshit. If you catch the professor’s eye, you rise in the world; if he marks you, you’re finished. The person in charge of the external audit committee for the senior knight examination is Deculein, Captain of the Imperial Guard. If the professor marks you, you’ll be driven out without even becoming a senior knight.
A secluded corridor in the knights’ annex. Vice-Captain Isaac’s feelings were wretched as he listened to the corrosion of the ‘Voice’ echoing there.
—His Majesty only shields the professor, too. And these days, the Imperial Guard is above the Imperial Knights. You have to get behind the professor somehow. Delric isn’t that old boomer Delric anymore—
“Let us go now. The guest is waiting.”
Gawain, whose face was likewise shadowed, spoke. Isaac nodded and opened the door to a secret room in the annex.
Creak—
A reception room specially made in preparation for the ‘Voice.’
Inside, a blond mage sat with his arms crossed.
“……Ihelm. It has been a while.”
Court Mage Ihelm. Receiving Isaac’s greeting perfunctorily, he pointed outside the door.
“Forget the pleasantries. Is that why you called me? Deculein is trying to swallow the Imperial Knights?”
“…….”
Isaac nodded silently. Gawain closed the door to the secret room.
“That is so.”
“Well, then, is it true? Are you asking me to oppose Deculein again? Don’t you know I got crushed in this chairman examination?”
“……We intend to hold a hearing.”
Isaac spoke gloomily, and Ihelm looked dumbfounded.
“What hearing?”
“Every spring, audits and hearings are held targeting corporations, merchant guilds, and noble families. There are many old retainers who are wary of Deculein’s power growing, so if only there is appropriate restraint, he will not be able to act as recklessly as now—”
“Ah, I can’t do it. Anything related to that guy, I can’t do. Wouldn’t it be better to call upon the Round Table instead?”
“……The Round Table must not come to the Imperial Palace. Their relationship with His Majesty is not good.”
“Really?”
Ihelm looked at Isaac with narrowed eyes. Isaac’s expression was troubled in a way unlike him.
“So…… in other words. You are trying to recruit a noble mage who knows Deculein’s mistakes well, yet also has a certain amount of prestige to oppose him?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Gawain answered in his stead.
“The current situation of the Imperial Knights is grave. Everything is being evaluated by connections, not skill.”
“……Is it that serious?”
“Yes!”
The moment Ihelm asked, Gawain slammed the table.
“The knights are currently divided into the Delric faction and the non-Delric faction. However, this is not a factional divide. It is a hierarchy. The Delric faction looks down on and mistreats the non-Delric faction…… and all important missions and key positions are now occupied only by Delric’s, that is, Deculein’s people.”
“……Really?”
“Yes! At this rate, the Imperial Knights will fall into becoming Deculein’s private knights, not the Imperial Knights.”
“…….”
Ihelm nodded with a somewhat ambiguous expression.
“Well, sure, that could happen. But I’m not doing it.”
“Sir Ihelm. The fate of the knights is at stake. Even if I am to retire soon anyway, the Imperial Knights are an institution for the Imperial Family, His Majesty, and the Empire, are they not? If they are swallowed by Deculein, their future will be dark, Ihelm. We are people of the same palace.”
Isaac’s eyes grew moist.
“Ah, don’t look at me like that. It’s creepy.”
Ihelm waved his hand dismissively.
Of course, he knew that Isaac was a ‘proper man.’ He was a rigid person who prioritized the collective of the Empire and the knights, and justice, over his own safety. If Isaac was saying this, then Deculein must truly be a threat.
“At any rate, I won’t do it.”
“Sir Ihelm!”
“Since we are people of the same palace, I’ll keep what was said here today secret from Deculein.”
“Sir Ihelm!”
“Oh, enough. And if you want it that badly, isn’t there one other person besides me? A family with enough prestige to drag Deculein to a hearing.”
“……A family? Which one?”
Isaac’s eyes widened. Ihelm answered in a rather reluctant tone.
“Iliade.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The three fell silent.
After exchanging only looks, eventually Ihelm spoke again.
“Still don’t like Iliade, do you?”
“……Ahem.”
That was how unsettling Iliade was. What Iliade had done previously in Bercht, and the temperament of the madman Gilteon, were far too famous.
“Gilteon may instead become a detriment.”
“Then, get his daughter.”
“……Daughter?”
“Sylvia.”
Sylvia of Iliade. The knight world did not know the details about her, said to possess the qualities of a grand mage.
To begin with, knights were not quick with rumors or news, and the world of magic in particular was a place where betrayal and backstabbing ran rampant, a place without loyalty or manners.
It was so filthy they did not even want to look at it.
“Is this child named Sylvia very promising?”
“Very?”
At Gawain’s question, Ihelm’s entire face twisted.
“Veeery~?”
His drawn-out ending sounded incredulous. Gawain and Isaac let out embarrassed coughs.
“Khehehehe. This is why you people are being pushed back. Your information network is awful, and you can’t do politics. Well, knights are all that sort, after all.”
Ihelm laughed loudly as he spoke.
“Do you know what the Round Table is saying now about Sylvia of the Three Primary Colors?”
Isaac and Gawain quietly pricked up their ears.
“……That Sylvia’s talent may be ‘divinity.’”
Divinity.
In other words, power akin to a god.
Goosebumps rose all over Isaac and Gawain’s bodies.
“Many say Sylvia is a fragment of the Divine Age. Deculein probably knew that and cast Sylvia out.”
“……Cast her out?”
“Yes. The Intelligence Bureau is currently monitoring Sylvia, and the person in charge is Deculein.”
“Hah.”
Isaac let out a dry cough.
Deculein, this frighteningly thorough and meticulous man—just how many moves ahead was he looking?
“Then……”
“If Sylvia is also of Iliade, she should bear ill will toward Deculein…… I will stop right here. I neither dislike nor like Deculein. Our old grudge and old friendship have already canceled each other out to zero. So the rest is for you all to handle.”
“……Understood. Thank you, Ihelm.”
“Let’s disperse already.”
The three of them nodded to one another and rose from their seats.
And when they opened the door to the secret room—
Their hearts exploded.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
They literally exploded.
They were so startled that their entire bodies froze, and their breath caught. Every muscle in their bodies shriveled at once.
There was only one reason.
“……Hmm. I see. So that is what you were thinking.”
The most noble being on this continent, murmuring while stroking her chin right in front of the secret room’s door.
“……Y-Your Majesty.”
Emperor Sophien. Isaac muttered blankly and sank to his knees. It was not that he knelt of his own volition; all strength had left his legs.
The other two, Gawain and Ihelm, were the same.
“W-What brings you here……”
“We are in the midst of an inspection. For some reason, sitting still did not please us today.”
“Ah…….”
“So, you will put Deculein on trial at a hearing?”
At that moment, the minds of the three grew distant. Their vision went black. They could see nothing and hear nothing.
“Answer.”
At the emperor’s words, Isaac came sharply back to his senses.
“Yes, yes. Deculein, Professor Deculein, is attempting to swallow the Imperial Knights. If things continue as they are, it will surely bring harm even to Your Majesty……”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
“Yes.”
“The reason?”
Just as Isaac swallowed, Gawain stepped forward in his stead.
“The foremost values of the Imperial Knights were skill and chivalry. Conviction and principle, justice and skill. Only a knight possessing all four in equal measure should have been able to rise in rank. But that is not the case now, with Deculein intervening. There are many knights who care only about looking good to Deculein. This is not a healthy knight order. Absolutely not.”
Gawain’s sentences were strange. In such an urgent situation, there was no way he could care about word order.
“……Deculein has degraded the Imperial Knights into a knights’ order of connections?”
“Yes, yes. That is so.”
“Hmm.”
Then Sophien nodded. Even then, the three of them found it difficult to understand the situation.
“There is reason in it.”
“……?”
At this slightly strange development, question marks appeared over the heads of the three, and Emperor Sophien gave a faint laugh as she declared,
“Interesting. First, bring me Iliade’s daughter. If you do, I will consider putting Deculein on trial at a hearing.”
* * *
The theater on the coast, where a total of 433 adventurers and named figures had gathered.
Within the quietly sunken atmosphere, all of them were wearing helmets.
“All 433 have entered the ‘trial.’”
Epherene spoke. She had come here in the middle of preparations for the contest, together with her teammates.
“But……”
Epherene swept her gaze over the adventurers sitting in the audience seats with helmets on, as though they had fallen quietly asleep.
“Is this trial difficult?”
“It is.”
“Really?”
I nodded.
“It is a trial made so that as few as possible will pass.”
“……Pardon?”
“I do not know in detail what is inside.”
The helmets worn by the adventurers. The world of the unconscious that would unfold inside them had 「Midas’s Hand」 applied to it.
In other words, it was no longer under my influence, but under the influence of the ‘Trait.’
“Prepare yourself, Epherene.”
I spoke to Epherene.
“Prepare for what?”
“To go to the ‘Island of the Voice.’”
Epherene’s eyes widened. Then she cleared her throat and pointed at the audience seats.
“……What about these people?”
“I will leave them to Julia, Drent, and Maho.”
Julia, Drent, and Maho. The three were walking around inside the theater, checking the adventurers’ conditions.
Their duty was to sever the connection to this ‘trial’ should a dangerous situation occur.
“Julia is a commoner, but Drent is a clever one, so he will manage well enough on his own.”
“Julie does well too, you know? Commoner or noble, that doesn’t matter.”
“Hm.”
I adjusted my necktie and spoke.
“Just prepare yourself. In any case, you will be going to the Island of the Voice with me.”
“……Yes, well. I’m fine.”
“It will be quite dangerous. You should at least be a little nervous.”
“…….”
Gulp—Epherene belatedly swallowed. With just a single sentence, her face had turned as frightened as a rabbit’s.